Street art is any visual art developed in public spaces. Found in streets all around the world, this art form is a direct communication between their creators and the public at large. Today, street art may be consider the most powerful, current, and valorized art movement in existence. This movement has recently found a new home in Annapolis, by way of Brazil. Recently, several Brazilian artists visited Annapolis and collaborated on a visual street art project within the vacant space that the Maryland Theatre for the Performing Arts will eventually call home.br
The strength and beauty of street art in Brazil, is caused by the pure representation, through vivid colors and strong lines, of the optimism and perseverance found in the Brazilian people. The art work selected for the Maryland Theatre for the Performing Arts space in Annapolis is a representation of all the above with an addition of a local flair. Three amazing and talented local artists were selected to share this experience with the Brazilian artists. Their collaboration will display the power and beauty of street art.
“Art has no boundaries. Art come in all shapes, forms, and colors. Art represents the most powerful and pure dreams.” --Roberta Pardo, co-coordinator/curator of the project
View the video of the artists painting their murals in Annapolis
Artists Bios:
Binho Ribeiro
Working on the streets since 1984, he is one of the pioneers of Street Art in Brazil and Latin America. He gains respect where ever he goes. San Thiago, Buenos Aires, Nagoya, Tókyo, Osaka, Paris, Los Angeles, Quito, Lima, Turim, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Beijing, Amsterdan, Bruxels, Accra and almost all Brazilian states have witness his talent.
TIKKA
Started the art of graffiti in 2002 and soon fell in love with the endless possibilities of interaction between the city and its people's daily lives. Trademarks of her work include strong face expressions, body movements and characters' costumes, all with the purpose of involving and establishing a connection with the spectator.
Her many accomplishments include projects for big and names such as Ellus, Spezzato, Credicard, Marie Claire, Morumbi Shopping Mall, and Oxford. She also participated in many prestigious graffiti events.
GEN DUARTE
Wilson, better known as Gen Duarte, was born in Paraiba (extreme north Brazil) and moved to Sao Paulo when he was still a little boy. The city became the scenery of his artistic development which started in 1998. During his first years as a graffiti artist, his main focus was letters. Throughout the years he emerged and developed many different styles. In recent times, he's worked on projects for big national ands such as Chilli Beans, 775 of Brazil, Ecomotion, Camaleon Bar, Army PR Agency, Abimad, Elma Chips, and Marche Stores among others.
Rodrigo Branco
The artist Rodrigo Branco, was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He spent most of his life in the Grajau neighborhood, on the extreme south of the capital. Considered as a cultural center, the area and the local artists had great influence on the development of his artistic point of view.
Rodrigo addresses a particular topic: people. He is inspired by looks and faces of his everyday life, memories of his time in Grajau and his researches and photographic documents. He gives characters no definition to its borderlines, strong colors and unusual faces. Powered by the expression of restless traces, strong and striking features, on walls, canvases or paper, his work challenges us.
Vermelho
Vermelho (red in english) is a demiurge, creator of fantastic dreamy worlds. He is a believer that beauty is everywhere, even in the most obscure places. A self-taught artists, he develop his technique on the streets of the metropolitan Sao Paulo, where you can find many of his work since 1998. Today he is a well round artist, one of the most influential Street artist in Brazil, working as a Graffiti artist, illustrator, sculpture and cinematographic.!
Jeff Huntington
Jeff Huntington received an MFA in 1997 from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA in 1995 from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC. His work has been included in more than eighty exhibitions nationally and internationally over the past 25 years.
Charles Lawrance
It all began when his mother’s water oke in 1970 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. For Charles, growing up in the outdoors and em acing nature inspired a lifelong obsession for expressing himself through art. A fisherman and naturalist at heart, Charles’ explorations ing him below and above creating a rich diversity to draw from.
Jesse James
Born in 1988 in Inglewood, Colorado, James is the co-founding member of Articulate: Baltimore and several projects that emerged throughout the city. James studied at Anne Anne Community College under the mentorship of Chris Mona and Matt Klos. Currently, he lives in Baltimore, Maryland and is working towards a Masters of Professional Studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
